This invention relates to letters or other indicia for installation on masonry walls and the like or other surfaces, and more particularly, to a self-adjusting orbital pin-mount for installing the letters or other indicia and the like.
Numerous means and methods are used in the prior art to mount letters and other indicia to masonry walls and the like. Basically, manufactured plastic or metal letters and the like in the prior art are provided on the backs thereof with brackets or threaded rods and the like, commonly referred to as spindles or pins, having a diameter up to about one-fourth inch and cut to a predetermined length.
The procedure followed in the prior art for mounting such letters and other indicia to a wall or other surface is relatively complex, time consuming and expensive. First, a full-scale layout on heavy paper is prepared in the shop. The letters are spaced accordingly on the paper and then outlined in pencil, tracing the contours of each letter. When this has been accomplished, threaded studs are hand-screwed into the backs of the letters, where holes have been drilled and tapped to a partial depth in aluminum plate or cast metal letters. Other types of letters may require the use of spaced nuts on the threaded studs extended through a hole in a bracket behind the letter. With the studs or mounting pins set in the letters, the letters are superimposed over the paper layout in alignment with the previously drawn outline of the respective letters. With the letters precisely positioned, the centers of the pins are pencil marked where they fall on the layout. The layout pattern is now ready for installation of the letters. In the field, the paper layout is positioned and secured, as with tape or the like, on the building wall or other surface where the letters are to be mounted. The wall or other surface is usually made of brick, stone, wood or other material, and a star drill or other suitable drill means is employed to drill holes of a predetermined depth wherever the marked pin centers are indicated. Once the holes have been drilled, the template is removed and a cement or mastic or other adhesive is injected into the drilled holes. The mounting pins of the respective letters or other indicia are then introduced into the holes, which are supposed to match the position of the pins behind the letter. However, in actual practice it is extremely difficult to accurately drill holes in masonry freehand. For example, a hole may fall at the edge of a brick or fieldstone, which thus necessitates drilling as much as one-fourth inch off-center. Consequently, for a letter which has six mounting pins projecting therefrom, quite a problem is presented in alignment of the pins with the respective holes, since none of the holes may be precise in squareness or position with regard to the pins. Therefore, in the prior art it is necessary to force the mounting pins in the holes, with the end result that a letter is usually not straight and requires twisting, pushing and hammering to align it. When the letters and pins are forced in this manner, the letters are bent out of shape and may be damaged such as to render it unusable.
With the present invention, on the other hand, a unique yieldable pin-mount is provided that has an orbital or floating center at its base in order that the pin is self-adjusting to any angle of misalignment or lateral misalignment of the hole relative to the pins on a letter or other indicia.